Leaf Rust And Scab Developing In Wheat

 

Leaf rust is starting to develop in both winter wheat and spring wheat. Most of the winter wheat is now past flowering and therefore a fungicide treatment is not recommended at this time. However, spring wheat is just flowering. A triazole fungicide can be applied to manage both Fusarium head blight and fungal diseases on leaves. 

 

Leaf rust can be differentiated from stripe rust by the color and the arrangement of pustules on the leaves. Leaf rust has orange-brown pustules that randomly distributed on the leaf, whereas stripe rust has yellow pustules arranged in a linear fashion on the leaf (Figure 1) . The two rusts require different weather conditions. Stripe rust prefers wet and cooler weather whereas leaf rust is favored by wet and warmer weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fusarium head blight (scab) was observed at low incidence in winter wheat but it may continue to develop as most of the winter wheat is just done flowering. Scab is promoted by wet and warm weather at flowering time. Scab can be differentiated from other wheat head disorders by examining the spikelets for pink color (Figure 2).